The Social Media Strategy

Now a days ALL pro teams need a voice on the internet that communicates to its fan base. A voice that not only gets people excited for games, but also engages people which ultimately enhances the fan experience!

The standard idea for social media presence amongst sports teams is to just offer updates and prizes to fans. This gets boring fast, and doesn't truly inspire a follow/ mention/ or #hashtag all the time.

My recommendation for the new CFL Ottawa team (and Jeff Hunt) is to follow along the guidelines of the Toronto Bluejays, UFC, and the LA Kings. Here are the reasons why for each:

1) Toronto Blue Jays- Offered the coolest prize on twitter... they tweeted asking for anyone going to the game to RT ("retweet" for all you non twitter users) their last tweet along with their row and seat number that they would be sitting in. All people who did this were entered into a draw to throw out the first pitch of the baseball game. Now I know football is a lot different than baseball, however something could be done as cool as this! Perhaps a fan could get to toss the coin to begin the game, or bring the game ball to the kick off team. Something along those lines would really engage people and make lifelong fans fast!

2) UFC (and President Dana White)- Offers great content to people who follow/watch him. Providing fans with exclusive video, pictures, and prizes. Not only that, they air official preliminary fights through their facebook page (and you can watch them during UFC's fightcard live) once you give them a simple "like". Now posting live video and such of live CFL games maybe hard due to TSN's exclusive television rights. Posting the normal videos, like after practice, pre-game, and post game should not be an issue though. To go a step further maybe Ottawa could allow live coverage of their team taking part in pre-game warmups.

3) LA Kings- During their Stanley Cup Playoff run they took the standard guidelines for sports teams in social media and threw it in the garbage. They offered comical posts and engaged with other popular people in the media for all to see (Like Rainn Wilson of the Office). This got people talking, and with more people talking... even more buzz was created. I used to follow only one NHL team (The Jets- my fav NHL team because their AHL affiliate is in my home of St. John's), but once I heard what the Kings were doing I had to look into it! The Kings' accounts had personality and flair, something that practically all sports teams now don't have. They took risks, and yes some people didn't like it, but the fans did!

So to sum it up here's what I hope to see Ottawa's new CFL team do with social media. Provide exclusive content to fans that they cannot find anywhere else other than the team's social media accounts. I would like them to embrace a personality. Get the fans engaged and talking about the team online... and have this lead into prize winning experiences. The personality cannot be afraid to take risk and mock opposing CFL teams (like the despised Argos, Als, and TiCats). Although I have mentioned this earlier, the team's social media strategy should fit snuggly within the overall marketing strategy of the organization. Businesses who attempt to be savvy with social media often forget this point, and ultimately its voice gets confused to the user. The team should also try its best to get back to its fans online. Getting a reply back means a lot to the user! At the end of the year Ottawa's management team could even perhaps gather the top 10-100 posts/tweets of the year!

Ottawa has some VERY passionate CFL fans out there! What better way to reach them through a online tool that practically costs nothing to start up aside from proper knowledge. Here's to hoping their social media presence they decide to go with a unique tone with tons of cool features to keep fans excited!

The Next Obstacles

It seems that with every passing month there is another obstacle added to the list of things Jeff Hunt and Co. need to tackle in order to get football back in the nation's capital. Frustration in the front office must be at an all time high, as this week it was announced that the soil within the Lansdowne Park was contaminated (Soil contamination article). This now has to be all removed before they even start to think of replacing the field. Though the 2014 schedule is still on track, you have to think with developments like this what else is there (though I remain fully optimistic that the project will get done on time)!

The other hurdle that Hunt still needs to get through is the nagging case with the "Friends of Lansdowne" (FOL). This organization came into the Ottawa football scene months ago, as they see the contract Hunt was awarded by Ottawa city council as illegitimate due to improper procurement procedures. Months ago they lost their case against city council. However, they've decided they don't think this issue is dead yet. The FOL now have an appeal hearing on November 28th, where they will state their case... again... on why the Jeff Hunt's team should not have won the redevelopment of Lansdowne contract (Ottawa Citizen article). This to me feels like they are beating around a dead horse.

Unfortunately, this organization seems to be garnering a lot more public interest these days as recent FOL meetings have brought in hundreds of Ottawa citizens to hear out their case. Though getting lots of people doesn't necessarily equal public support, it at least is getting their name out there. As the old adage goes, there is no such thing as "bad" publicity, and I'm sure the FOL will take anything they can get. The FOL from their meetings have listed how much in terms of donations they have been receiving. Their last meeting they managed to raise $5000... though that seems like a lot of dough, in the legal lawyer world, that sum would be swallowed up within a couple days work. Which begs the true question, where are the FOL getting most of their cash support? Are the chair people funding most of their aims through their own pockets? What’s in it for them? Questions to think about.

On a positive note the renewing of Lansdowne field will truly start to commence on November 7th! The department of Public Affairs for the City of Ottawa most recently announced they had selected a company to complete the demolishment of the South Side stands of Frank Clair Stadium (They were half removed in 2008). This is at least one less obstacle Hunt needs to worry about. What's more is that the contract awarded was won on a budget of close to $1 million less than expected (City of Ottawa Presser). For people who know government... this is almost unheard of, hopefully this bid stays true to its original pricing scope!

There still seems like there is a rocky road ahead on seeing football in Ottawa again. However, there is still buzz on the project. People and fans are still interested and excited to see what's going to come in the short months ahead. Will the soil contamination be a bigger deal? Will FOL win their appeal and cause more havoc? To me, if I were running the upcoming franchise, I would try to install confidence. Give the fans a tidbit for things to come. Why not have a name/logo contest? Or a Rough Riders/ Renegades alumni party? Just something to give back to the fans to let them know that things are being taken care of and not to worry!

CFL in Ottawa for 2014! I still believe... let's get it "done" (right)!

A More Perfect Union... on the field

On June 20th, Ottawa and the OSEG were awarded the rights to a new soccer team that would play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) (see news article here). This deal has the potential to provide a MASSIVE boost financially to the next Ottawa CFL team, as Lansdowne field will have two anchor tenants to help share in the maintenance/upkeep costs of the field. Also Frank Clair will have another team to fill it's schedule! Synergy is what they call it in the business world.

I feel this new Ottawa soccer team maybe coming in at the exact right time as well. If the team begins play in 2014 or 2015 that is just around the time Canada is hosting the FIFA women's world cup! The soccer buzz will be going even more insane if the city of Ottawa gets approval to be one of the host cities for this tournament. Whatsmore, Ottawa's bid is increasingly more likely to be accepted due to the fact that Toronto will be unable to host any games due to over committing themselves to the Pan American games that summer!

However, I will be cautiously optimistic with this. The NASL has folded before and just recently got on the go again. Who's to say this league will exist in another couple years... especially if the Montreal Impact (one of the league's better attended teams) plays on moving up to the premier Major League Soccer division by 2012.

Another fact that should be highlight is that the renovated Frank Clair Stadium will hold around 24,000 people in max capacity. So far, attendance for NASL games will not even come close to filling this stadium! This maybe an issue for the "Fan Experience", as the new Frank Clair could just be too BIG a stadium for Ottawa Soccer to survive in.

So for now... though I love soccer (2nd to football), I will wait and see how this partnership develops! It has all the ground workings to be great, let's just hope the NASL is still around for another 3 years.

Fingers crossed!!!

Part II- What's in the name?

So what should the new CFL Ottawa team have to represent themselves in the greatest league in North America?!

I'm big into animal groupings, it's kinda my weird fun knowledge that I love to know. Ottawa is Canada's capital city and is especially known for their Parliament buildings where all the MPs of Canada come together to fight out issues on how to make the nation better (though sometimes this is a slower process unfortunately). Do you guys know what a Parliament is as an animal grouping? Well it's a group of Owls. At first even to me this name seemed somewhat lame, just another animal name based team, but then it started to grow on me more. Being named the Ottawa Owls is a little clever in my mind, and Jeff Hunt and his marketing team could definitely market the franchise easily with "Parliament" in mind!

So does this name work for you?! Could you see yourself being a fan of a CFL team named the Ottawa Owls? Would you give a hoot for that name (sorry for the lame crack)? Would love your feedback and comments on this issue. As in the end, this is Ottawa's team and for it to truly take off for the new/ old fans Hunt should engage himself with them. Let the fans decide on what to call this team for that's the way ALL business is going these days!

Part I - What's in the name?

The third CFL team is about to break ground within the next couple years. In addition, the new grounds at Lansdowne Park should hopefully be started within the next 6 months to a year (pending Friends of Lansdowne's court case).

Be it as it may I have no rumblings really of possible names to the new CFL team. Some Ottawa super fans would want to keep up with the old school tradition and name the team the Ottawa Rough Riders. This would be a BIG joke to the league unfortunately, as Saskatchewan already has laid claim to that name for years. The CFL would never agree to allowing two Rough Rider franchises anyway, and Saskatchewan won't be changing their name to something new just to appease the fans in Ottawa.

Another possibility could be to continue with the last franchise name, the Ottawa Renegades. This name holds great significance to me, as it was this franchise that truly got me hooked on the CFL, and more importantly football in the Canadian capital! Going into its final years of operation this franchise was really going places on the field. They had a core group of players who were capable of winning: Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek, Pat Woodcock, Jason Armstead, etc. The Renegades were getting especially good at winning games within the eastern division, games they needed more to help their playoff chances. There's no doubt in my mind that if they had lasted another year they would have made the playoffs in their 5th season in the league.

This name to many non-hardcore Ottawa football fans will forever be associated with failure, therefore the new franchise should not incorporate the Renegades into their team. Even though it was entirely the Glieberman's fault that caused the Renegades to fold, most Ottawa citizens do not get this and probably won't attend new CFL Ottawa games because of it.

So just what should the new CFL Ottawa team now be? It needs to be something that represents the city, and not to sound corny, but the country. As Ottawa is the capital city of Canada they need to represent a little bit more in my mind. The first thought that came to my mind was to name the new team something to do with the Rideau Canal. The Canal is a big part of the city, and the stadium will be right along side of it. Alas, the Toronto Argonauts (Ottawa's most despised rival) are known as the "Boatmen" and already have long established ties with water.

So what could these options for a new name be...
Stay tuned!

CFL Ottawa's Draft Plans

Back in February 2002, the Ottawa Renegades expansion draft took place. Within this draft Ottawa was allowed to take up eight imports (Non-Canadian players) in the first round from other CFL teams, and eight Non-imports (Canadian players) in the second round from CFL teams. In total they selected 32 players from this draft process, with 16 of them already having CFL experience on their resume.

The draft was criticized, as it allowed the eight CFL teams to protect two of their quarterbacks (QB) from Ottawa in their expansion draft. Teams were also allowed to protect up to seven non-imports on their team as well. This meant that Ottawa was dealt the shaft in many ways, as they ended up having to choose from a plethora of 3rd string or practice roster type players. In the end, Ottawa’s starting QB ended up being Dan Crowley, a 3rd stringer from the Edmonton Eskimos. Crowley would eventually end up being outplayed by up and comer Kerry Joseph in 2003 (This was met by much fan approval as Crowley just could not get the job done).

CBC story on 2002 Ottawa Expansion Draft

Though many media “experts” say the Renegades were never competitive, I would wholeheartedly disagree with them. In their fourth season, if cross over rules were not in effect, the Renegades would have made the playoffs. If you were a true fan, and saw the Renegades game in and game out, you would know that the players had passion and were building something. Either way, maybe if the expansion draft was more in Ottawa’s favour from the get go they would not be rebuilding again (Though I still think it was an ownership problem over anything else… Gliebermans…).

A couple months ago, plans for the new CFL Ottawa team’s expansion draft were laid out. The big changes were: the addition of another round of non-imports (equally a total of one import round and two non import rounds), the current CFL teams can now only protect one QB, CFL Ottawa can only take two QBs within the first three rounds,and Ottawa can only choose one kicker/punter within the first three rounds. CFL teams in addition to protecting one QB will be allowed to protect ten imports from the import round, and six non imports in the non import rounds.

Outside the expansion draft, Ottawa can take up to four 2012 underclassmen from the NCAA and will get the 1st pick in each round of the official 2013 CFL draft. All these plans will help Ottawa fight and become the “Beast in the East” right from the beginning.

I know it’s super early to predict much, but one player I would be interested in Ottawa picking up is Justin Palardy, the kicker from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He had a lot of success in university as he kicked the third most field goals (65) and scored the fifth most points (320) in CIS history. For the Bombers last year he converted 26/30 FG for a 86.7 conversion percentage. This was the second best FG percentage only behind B.C.’s McCallum. Having the full time gig next season should help Palardy to improve upon his numbers even more.

All in all, I'm excited about the draft plans as Mark Cohon clearly wants to see Ottawa succeed in its third CFL attempt!

The Meeting

(Jeff Hunt must be getting tired with Friends of Lansdowne)


On Thursday March 24th, the Friends of Lansdowne (FOL) combined forces with the Council of Canadians to riot on the renovations to public space becoming privatized. The meeting largely squared upon the issue of Ottawa City Council giving OSEG the rights to redevelop the park the best way they see fit.

The meeting detailed can be more so followed through this media story.
(click here)


From what I gather a bit more than 100 people showed up to this meeting even though it was open to all the public of Ottawa. Ottawa is a city close to a million people; I feel the FOL should take this as a major hint that the citizens of Ottawa frankly don't care what they're doing. In addition they raised $2000 to help cover their legal expenses. Their Lawyer, and FOL member, is Steven Shrybman. The FOL must be expecting a big discount price off legal fees in the coming months if $2000 is all they can raise for this cause. Lawyers are expensive!!

Remember the MAJOR court date will be happening in June. This is when the courts will decide if the City Council of Ottawa got their decision ethically right when they award the reno project to OSEG.

Their full legal challenge can be seen here

Other than that it was a rather slow news week in terms of CFL in Ottawa stories. Blogging on FOL is becoming a bit boring. Next Sunday I will look into the new CFL expansion draft that is set to occur in 2012!